Policy positions should always be checked against the policy positions of local OII affiliates.

On Medical Care

Our societies have accepted a binary construct between male and female which does not reflect Nature and the enormous variety of possible sexes which overlap one another in various gradations on a spectrum with male at one end and female at the other.  The arbitrary division of biological sex into only two categories makes all sex assignments of an individual problematic.  Neither the genitalia, nor the chromosomes helps one determine the “true” sex of an infant.  The gonads, hormones and the internal reproductive organs of the infant are also not reliable indicators for determining conclusively the sex of a child.  Each child is born with a unique combination of all these factors and the different possible combinations are very numerous, making all sex assignments of infants a mere conjecture.

We campaign against all surgical intervention of infants born with atypical genitalia that is not medically necessary and favour the right of all intersexed children to determine their own sexual identity once they are capable of communicating it to us.  Furthermore we advise parents to respect the sexual identity of their children and to do all that is necessary so that their children can live according to their choice.

Once the child has communicated clearly their own sexual identity, it is crucial that his/her identity be respected both by the parents, physicians and therapists who are caring for the child.  All steps should be taken to assist the child in his/her choice by being given access to hormones at puberty and to other medical care necessary to facilitate life in the sex the child considers most appropriate.

Therefore, we are campaigning in favour of changing the current medical paradigm concerning surgical intervention and against the diagnosis of gender dysphoria in intersex individuals who feel they were assigned the wrong sex.  OII affirms that the true sex of the child is determined by their own inner psychological perceptions and that the right of the individual intersex person to affirm her/his own sex without medical or governmental interference should be a basic human right.